Memorable TV

The Royal House Of Windsor Premieres Wed 22 Feb on Channel 4

The Royal House Of Windsor Premieres Wed 22 Feb on Channel 4

Published

2 years ago

on

February 19, 2017

The first episode in an epic six-part series, The Royal House of Windsor, premieres on Wednesday 22 Feb at 9.00pm on Channel 4. It tells the gripping family saga of the world’s most famous dynasty over the last 100 years. Based on new evidence from archives around the world and the Queen’s own personal family archive held at Windsor, the series provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes insight into how the Windsors have weathered four generations of crisis, and the secrets of their survival.

May 1910: Nine Kings assembled at Buckingham Palace for the funeral of Edward VII, the Father of George V (centre). From left to right, back row: Haakon VII of Norway, Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Manuel II of Portugal, Wilhelm II of Germany, George I of Greece and Albert I Of Belgium. Front row: Alphonso XIII of Spain, George V and Frederick VIII of Denmark.

This episode reveals fresh insights into how George V rescued the monarchy by dumping their German roots and rebranding the family as quintessentially British, until his wayward son Edward VIII nearly brought the dynasty crashing down with the abdication crisis, only for his stammering younger brother Bertie and his wife Elizabeth, the current Queen’s mother, to step in and save the day. In July 1917, Britain was at war with Germany and hatred of all things German, including the royal family, was rife. King George V faced a crisis.

British Royalty, pic: 1923, HRH, The Duke and Duchess of York pictured at Polesden Lacey during their honeymoon, The Duke of York was to become King George VI, on the abdication of King Edward VIII, and reigned 1936-1952, with Elizabeth as his Queen Consort

In response, he ruthlessly forced all of his German relations living in Britain to change their identity. He changed his family’s name from the German Saxe Coburg-Gotha to the couldn’t-get-more-English Windsor. And he allowed his cousin, the Russian Tsar and his family to perish at the hands of the Bolsheviks. As monarchies around the world were toppling, the Windsors triumphed. They have always followed one crucial rule: survive, no matter what it takes, whatever the cost.